HOKAGE TOWER
"She's already on her way." Riser said calmly while remaining seated in front of the Hokage's desk.
Tsunade rested her face on one hand for a few seconds before responding.
"Then let's meet this wife of yours."
The space inside the office gently distorted shortly afterward.
Merlin appeared inside the room as if she had been there from the very beginning, her hair moving slightly while her violet eyes analyzed the entire environment before finally stopping on Tsunade.
"Hello." Merlin smiled politely. "You must be Hokage Tsunade. I'm Merlin, Riser's wife. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Tsunade looked at her for a moment.
'Another person whose speed I can't follow.'
Even after everything that had happened that night, it was still strange to see someone simply appear inside the Hokage's office without her noticing their approach.
"I-It's also a pleasure to meet you, Merlin." Tsunade replied while reorganizing her thoughts. "And how is the barrier?"
Merlin calmly walked toward the office window before pointing outside.
"Perfect." She answered naturally. "You can see it from here."
Tsunade immediately stood up from her chair and walked to the window.
Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed the bluish magical structure covering all of Konoha like a gigantic transparent dome above the village. The barrier glowed softly beneath the night sky, yet at the same time seemed almost nonexistent depending on the angle.
"...It's different from the other one." Tsunade commented while observing the colossal structure above the village.
"Because Merlin is better at this than I am." Riser answered without difficulty.
Merlin ended up smiling faintly upon hearing that.
"Thank you for the compliment."
Tsunade continued observing the barrier for a few more seconds before finally returning to the important matter.
"Now give me control of it." She crossed her arms while looking directly at Merlin. "I'll need to inform the civilians that this was a measure taken by the Hokage before the entire village panics tomorrow morning."
"Of course."
Merlin gently raised one hand the next instant. Small golden runes appeared in the air before slowly moving toward Tsunade, forming a small magic circle that disappeared as soon as it touched her hand.
The flow of information arrived immediately as small golden runes vanished into Tsunade's hand.
Authorized entries, restrictions, access permissions, and partial control of the barrier began organizing themselves inside her mind almost instantly.
Tsunade absorbed everything in silence for a few seconds before finally breathing more easily.
'It really works...'
She returned to the desk shortly afterward.
"Well..." Tsunade ran a hand through her tired hair while looking at both of them. "Feel free to stay here or leave. I still have way too much work to finish today."
Before either of them could respond, one of the shadow clones had already placed another enormous stack of documents onto the desk.
Tsunade almost felt physical pain looking at it.
The next instant, her body disappeared from the room using the Shunshin no Jutsu.
Merlin observed the empty space for a few seconds before slightly turning her face toward Riser.
"Her movement looks quite similar to your Soru, dear."
Riser almost smiled immediately upon hearing the word "dear."
"So you decided to follow my advice that quickly?" he teased while standing up from the chair. "I thought you still preferred calling me master."
Merlin simply maintained her small calm smile.
"I can adapt."
"Dangerous." Riser replied with amusement before briefly looking at the empty space Tsunade had left behind. "But yes... her movement really is quite similar."
The Mangekyō Sharingan began slowly spinning in his eye shortly afterward.
"I think we're done here." Riser said as space began distorting around both of them. "Let's go."
Kamui's distortion enveloped Merlin first.
Then Riser.
And both of them completely disappeared from the Hokage's office, leaving behind only the silence of dawn and an overworked Tsunade somewhere in the tower trying to save Konoha from its own bureaucracy.
YAMANAKA HOUSE
Ino rolled over in bed once again while staring at the dark ceiling of her room, her face partially buried in the pillow as her mind continued returning to the same scene over and over again.
'He kissed me...'
The worst part was that it hadn't felt strange, aggressive, or uncomfortable. The kiss had been simple, quick, and far too natural, and maybe that was irritating her more than it should.
'I wanted it... but not like that... not now.'
She squeezed the pillow tighter while turning onto her side, trying to organize her thoughts without much success. The problem was that part of her had actually imagined that kind of situation before.
Just not with Riser.
'I was saving that for Sasuke...'
The thought appeared automatically before losing strength almost immediately. Sasuke had left years ago, abandoned Konoha, become a missing-nin, and destroyed every expectation she and Sakura had built during their academy days.
Even so, it still felt strange to realize someone else had occupied that space so quickly.
'But why did he kiss me?'
Ino lightly bit her lip while continuing to stare at the dark ceiling, feeling her face heat up once again as she remembered his absurd calmness throughout their entire conversation.
'Does he like me...?'
The idea alone made her heart race more than it should.
Then Ino immediately turned her face toward the other side of the bed, annoyed with herself before she started fantasizing too much.
'No... calm down... think properly.'
That was exactly the problem.
Thinking properly became impossible every time she remembered the calm way Riser spoke, the absurd confidence he radiated, or the way he seemed to perceive everything around him effortlessly.
And worse.
He clearly knew the effect he had on people.
Ino slowly exhaled before finally sitting up in bed, running a hand through her hair while trying to regain some control over the situation inside her own head.
'I need to talk to someone.'
Sakura was the first person who came to mind.
The problem came immediately afterward.
"No..." Ino muttered softly to herself while already imagining her friend's reaction. "I can't tell Sakura about this yet."
Because the moment Sakura found out about the kiss...
It would become hell.
Ino rested her elbows on her legs while staring at the floor of her room for a few seconds, slowly organizing her decision before taking another deep breath.
'I need to talk to Riser tomorrow.'
The idea alone made her stomach feel strange again, but this time the feeling wasn't accompanied only by nervousness. There was anticipation too, and perhaps that bothered her more than it should.
Then Ino closed her eyes for a moment before slowly exhaling.
'Calm down... I invited him out today.'
She wasn't an academy girl anymore who froze over every handsome boy. She was an adult kunoichi, experienced, someone accustomed to pressure, missions, and situations far worse than a simple unexpected kiss.
Besides...
Riser wasn't just any man.
The thought arose naturally while Ino organized her feelings without realizing the exact moment it had stopped being simple curiosity.
He was handsome, confident, and absurdly strong. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was how comfortable he seemed with himself all the time, as if he genuinely had nothing to prove to anyone in the village.
And unlike practically every man she knew, he didn't seem desperate to impress anyone all the time.
That made everything worse.
Or better.
Ino still hadn't decided.
She ran a hand through her hair while slowly leaning back against the headboard, letting her thoughts flow on their own this time.
'And he's still an Uchiha...'
The comparison with Sasuke came immediately afterward.
But for the first time in a long while, it didn't have the same impact as before.
Because now, looking at it properly...
Who exactly was Sasuke?
A missing-nin.
A village traitor.
Someone who abandoned Konoha, abandoned his friends, and spent years as nothing more than an impossible memory to reach.
How many years had she wasted trapped by that image?
How many feelings had continued existing simply because she had never truly let them die?
Ino remained silent for a few seconds while staring at her own dark reflection in the bedroom window.
Then another comparison came shortly afterward.
Sasuke ran away from the Uchiha District.
Riser arrived and claimed the district for himself on his very first day.
The thought pulled a small smile from her before she even realized it.
Because while Sasuke seemed like someone trying to run from his own name, Riser did exactly the opposite. He carried the Uchiha presence with absurd naturalness, as if the entire world simply had to accept it.
And honestly?
Konoha had accepted it.
'He really kissed a Yamanaka on his first day in the village...'
The memory made her face heat up again, but this time the feeling was different. It didn't feel like pure embarrassment anymore.
It felt like pride.
Ino was beautiful.
She had known that for years.
She knew the effect she had on people, knew how to attract attention, and knew exactly when someone was interested in her. The problem was that, for the first time in a very long time, it felt like someone had gotten past all those layers without acting like an idiot in the process.
Riser had simply arrived...
And taken the initiative.
Her heart sped up again as she remembered his absurd calmness during the kiss.
'...Too confident.'
The worst part was that she liked it.
A lot.
Ino pulled the pillow into her lap while finally relaxing a little more on the bed, letting her thoughts lose part of the confusion they had before.
Because now another feeling was slowly beginning to emerge inside her.
Competitiveness.
'Sakura can have Sasuke then.'
The idea came almost playfully.
Because for the first time in years, thinking about Sasuke no longer seemed important. In fact, now it even felt tiring to compare the two.
One became a missing traitor.
The other arrived in Konoha and turned the entire village upside down in less than two days.
The difference was simply too absurd.
Ino ended up smiling to herself before finally throwing herself back onto the bed, now far less confused than before.
'Tomorrow I'll talk to him.'
And this time, when she thought about the kiss...
She didn't get nervous.
In fact, another idea slowly appeared shortly afterward.
'I think tomorrow I'll be the one to kiss him first.'
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